Calgary man cherishes $10 bill autographed by Muhammad Ali

Stan Jacobs remembers when he met his idol, boxing legend Muhammad Ali.

It was sometime in the 1970s, and Jacobs had gone with a friend to see the movie Dirty Harry in downtown Calgary.

"We were standing in the foyer and my friend turns to me and he says, 'Look, there's your mentor,'" Jacobs recalls."So I look, and standing on top of the escalator was the great Muhammad Ali. I was just amazed at looking at the man."

• MORE CALGARY NEWS |Calgary Muslims welcome Ramadan with fasting and prayers
• MORE CALGARY NEWS |'What is my daughter doing in Iran?' Calgary mother fights for girl's return

Jacobs approached Ali and asked for his signature.

"I always remembered his name as Cassius Clay. I went up to him and I asked him...'Cassius, would you sign an autograph?'"

"He looked up at me and he said yes,and after having asked him that, I didn't have a paper or a pen in my hand," Jacobs continued. "I reached in my wallet and I had one $10 bill left after I paid for my tickets. And I borrowed a pen and gave it to the great Muhammad Ali and he smiled and he signed it."

Jacobs, a college boxing champion in India, raised his daughters to know Ali as well.

"We grew up with a lot of Muhammad Ali stories," saidJacobs' daughter Lisa."We had a bunch of VHS tapes so we could watch his fights, and when we weren't watching fights we would be clearing out the living room to form some sort of makeshift boxing ring."

"My sister and I would throw on the gloves and basically beat each other for up while my amazing parents would cheer us on," Lisa Jacobs saidlaughing.

Some 30 or 40 years later, Jacobs still has his precious banknote.

"I've been broke many times, because we were in our 20s and it's not that difficult to get broke at that time, but I somehow did not spend that $10bill," he said.

Muhammad Ali remembered by Peter Mansbridge

8 years ago

Duration 6:16

Boxing legend called 'the Greatest' has died at age 74

• MORE ALBERTA NEWS|'Perfect storm' could lead to big advances for geothermal energy in Alberta
• MORE ALBERTA NEWS |Alberta premier's office spent same amount as Alison Redford's staff
• MORE ALBERTA NEWS |Why Okotoks is fishing for goldfish in storm ponds

With files from the Calgary Eyeopener